The bodies of three members of Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) kidnapped during voting on Saturday have been found, the IEC chairman has announced.
Fazl Ahmad Manawi said the bodies were found in northern Balkh province.
They were kidnapped during a parliamentary election which Taliban militants had vowed to disrupt.
The announcement means that at least 17 people were killed on election day in about 445 violent incidents.
Announcing the death of his colleagues, Mr Manawi said: “Unfortunately three IEC workers who were abducted yesterday in the Chemtal district of Balkh province were killed and we found their bodies today”
He said about 29 other election workers had been wounded in incidents on Saturday, according to preliminary reports.
A spokesman for Nato’s Isaf said the level of violence on polling day had been similar to last year’s presidential election, during which 479 violent incidents were recorded.
International officials have hailed the bravery of voters who turned out in defiance of the Taliban threat.
More than 2,500 candidates are vying for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, or Wolesi Jirga.
Turnout has been put at 40%.
Preliminary results are to be announced on 22 September, with the final results due on 31 October.
However, there were many reports of fraud that may raise questions about the results.
The Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, a monitoring group, said it had found “extensive irregularities” and urged the IEC “to ensure the integrity of the rest of the electoral process”.
The foundation’s Nader Nadery told the BBC it was to be welcomed that more people had voted than expected and that casualties from attacks were lower than anticipated.
But he said there were many problems with the indelible ink used to stop multiple voting, with proxy votes, interference by local power brokers and with a large amount of intimidation.
The BBC’s Lyse Doucet in Kabul said that among the incidents of fraud were the arrest of 26 people with fake identity cards in Helmand province and officials stuffing ballot boxes at one closed polling station in eastern Wardak province.
The Taliban had earlier warned voters to boycott the poll and “stick to jihad”.
The outcome is not expected to change the make-up of the government, although President Hamid Karzai’s credibility may be damaged if his preferred candidates are defeated, or if vote-rigging is suspected, correspondents say.
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